The two upcoming events for the Malcolm M. Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium Series at the University of Idaho will feature Matthew Wappett, associate director of the Center of Disabilities and Human Development, followed by a presentation from professor Gundars Rudzitis of the geology department.
Steven Devine | Argonaut
Associate Director of the Center of Disabilities and Human Development Matthew Wappett will present “Laughter and Learning: Why Happy Students are Better Students,” at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Idaho Commons Whitewater room.
Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Media Kenton Bird said the series was started by Daniel Bukvich, Lionel Hampton School of Music professor of percussion and theory and director of Jazz Choir, and former UI professor Michael O’Rourke, who now teaches at Michigan State University.
“The presentations typically discuss cutting-edge research in the speaker’s field,” Bird said.
Bird recommends students attend the events for a couple of reasons.
“It’s a great chance to hear from some of the top professors at the University of Idaho, as well as to expand your horizons about the types of interesting research being done on our campus,” Bird said.
Bird said there is another incentive for students to attend.
“Students can also earn one credit by attending all of the Tuesday sessions, keeping a journal about the speakers, and attending three discussion sessions,” Bird said.
Bird said he tries to organize the events with diverse topics.
“We try for a variety of subjects — humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. We also try to showcase teaching and outreach efforts, as well as scholarly and creative work by faculty members,” Bird said.
Wappett said his presentation “Laughter and Learning: Why Happy Students are Better Students,” will be based on his research on the influence of stress and how it affects students’ performance.
Wappett said he received an unusual request while he was in the process of his studies.
“As I was starting that particular field I was asked to be faculty adviser at the University of Idaho laughter club,” Wappett said. “I had been training how to do laughter yoga so they came to me and asked me to be an adviser, so I started working with teachers and therapists.”
Wappett said he began to investigate the science behind laughter as well as other stress reduction techniques such as meditation.
“One of the things we focus on is a field called contemplative pedagogy, which essentially is teaching students how to meditate to relax and calm their minds,” Wappett said.
He said he believes these small exercises make a huge difference.
“We know from research that it reduces stress and even having students do that for one to two minutes a day has a huge impact on how well they perform in school,” Wappett said. “Most stress reduction research is in the field of medicine and it is only barely being applied to the educational environment, a lot of the most effective strategies are very old strategies.”
Wappett will present his research at 12:30 pm on Nov. 27 in the Whitewater Room of the Idaho Commons.
Rudzitis’ presentation “A Geographers Perspective on the American West and the World,” will address land development, which he said he believes to be too economically focused, failing to address the importance of the environmental, social, cultural and political factors.
“I have been working for years developing with other people in the U.S. what’s called a quality of life model where the focus is not on economics but maximizing the quality of life of people,” Rudzitis said.
He said his lecture will preview two of his books that will be published.
Rudzitis said one book is about the development of the American West and he is a co-author of the other book, which is a progressive perspective on development world-wide.
Rudzitis said he began his research about 20 years ago when he noticed the American West was growing in population and development, and transitioning to a resource-based economy where people move for immensities and environmental factors.
“Previously most economic development theories argued that people moved primarily for jobs,” Rudzitis said.
At this point, Rudzitis said he began to receive recognition for his research.
Starting in the ‘80s Rudzitis said he received a series of National Science Foundation grants, which surveyed about 11,000 to 12,000 people in U.S. counties adjacent to wilderness areas, national parks and other public lands. This reconfirmed Rudzitis assumption.
“We found that the people generally moved primarily for quality of life and not for jobs,” Rudzitis said.
More than 20 years later, Rudzitis continues to expand on his research.
About a year ago, Rudzitis helped write a letter with his committee to President Barack Obama stressing the importance of environmental preservation and the need to invest in public lands to provide job creation and economic growth.
“About three months later the president proposed to spend a billion dollars to put returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to work restoring national parks, unfortunately that was voted down,” Rudzitis said.
Rudzitis will present his research at 12:30 pm on Dec. 4 in the Whitewater Room of the Idaho Commons.
Aaron Wolfe can be reached at [email protected]
